Leopards 'Relaxed, Experienced And Having Fun' College Basketball

November 22, 1984|by TED MEIXELL, The Morning Call

Lafayette is NOT the Los Angeles Lakers - nor, for that matter, the New Orleans Jazz. But it sure as heck isn't Picayune, Miss., either.

And the first thought to strike you as Bill "Butch" van Breda Kolff sits behind a desk in Allan P. Kirby Field House, comfortable in his jogging attire, is that he looks downright happy. The second is to think, "This guy CAN'T be 61 years old."

By now, VBK's return as head basketball coach at the school where his career began way back in 1951, has been adequately chronicled. After stops in such way stations as Hofstra (1955-62), Princeton (1962-67), the Lakers of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain (1967-69), Detroit Pistons (1969-71), Phoenix Suns (1972), Memphis Tams (ABA, 1973-74), the Jazz (1974-77), the University of New Orleans (1977-79) opener looms large on the horizon.

So it's time to focus on the season. But it must be said that if VBK's newest group of athletes is as relaxed as he is, Lafayette basketball should be both interesting and fun.

One thing his predecessor, Will Rackley, left behind was experience. The Leopards are in especially good shape in the backcourt, where 6-2 senior All- East Coast Conference selection Tony Duckett, 6-2 sophomore Ron Reynolds, 6-3 senior Stan Morse and 6-3 sophomore John Souder all return. And 6-1 recruit Paul Staubi averaged 31.5 points per game last year at Westlake, N.Y., High School and could help right away.

Up front, VBK has moved rugged 6-6 junior Gary Bennett from center to power forward and 6-7 senior stringbean John Coalmon into the post. He's also put Reynolds at theother forward spot and, for the time being, Souder is starting opposite Duckett instead of Morse - who missed a couple weeks of practice with academic problems.

The down side is that VBK's offense is radically different from Rackley's, and he's been scrambling since the first toot of his whistle to acclimate his troops. "Installing a new system takes up so much time," he said.

In describing the style differences, VBK said, "For one thing, we're going to play a lot freer, and we'll run whenever the (fast) break is there. Two, when we're not running, our set offense is more of a movement game, with a lot of passing and cutting, rather than an inside power game. They're getting it, they're coming along - we're just not ready yet."

That will be of major concern early in the season, because the Leopards' nonleague schedule looks like it was drafted by the Marquis de Sade. Lafayette opens Saturday night against Ohio State in Columbus. After dropping a level for games against Moravian and Kutztown, the Leopards face sixth-ranked St. John's and Olympian Chris Mullins on Nov. 30 in a Lapchick Tournament opener and will get either St. Francis or St. Bonaventure the next night.

"I told the kids," VBK said with a grin, " 'we can't afford to look past Ohio State for St. John's.' "

The New Year begins at Pittsburgh Jan. 3, and then comes what local fans are looking to as the glamor game of the entire schedule - a matchup at Kirby with Princeton. The Tigers, of course, are coached by feisty Petey Carril - the star and captain of van Breda Kolff's first Lafayette club 33 years ago.

One guy who hasn't marked the date in red is VBK. "Not yet," he said with a shrug. "I keep telling people this, but I guess they don't believe me: I just don't think that way. I'm not even worrying aboutMoravian - just Ohio State. My car might hit a tree on the way home tonight, so what good does it do to worry about Princeton? Let him (Carril) think about it. He likes to worry."

Lafayette defeated the Gems Courtsmen of Westchester County, N.Y., an AAU team, 88-78 last Sunday. VBK said the exhibition served its purpose. "I wanted it to point out our mistakes," he said, "and that's what it did. But it also pointed to some things we did better than I expected."

In that contest, Reynolds and Duckett scored 24 and 23 points, respectively, with Morse chipping in with 10 and 6-5 freshman Billy Hughes of Troy, N.Y., nine. Coalmon led all rebounders with 14, Hughes had six and Bennett five. Duckett doled out eight assists, Souder (who was academically ineligible for much of last season) five.

"Duckett is an excellent player," van Breda Kolff said. "Our style is suited so much for him. He can handle the ball, he can throw the long pass or take it all the way himself. He's strong and quick, and we'll be cutting, moving and setting a lot of picks for him."

The frontcourt? "Time will tell," the coach said, "but, outside of Hughes, who's definitely a nice player, we're not very deep. Swint (6-4 Easton sophomore Phil) has improved quite a bit, and could help us. He can run and jump and he plays hard defensively.

"In the middle, we're thin. Both Klinger (6-11 senior Karl) and Everson (6-11 sophomore Steve) have not come around. It's up to them to become more aggressive, more active. If they don't come around, we'll have to use Gary (Bennett) in the middle. But that makes us awfully small."

Look for Lafayette to take its lumps early in the season and come on in time for the ECC portion of the schedule. If the Leopards are in the hunt following a Feb. 9 date at Lehigh, look out - because the final four ECC games are at home!

VBK isn't looking that far ahead. He's unmoved by his team's role as the ECC favorite, and he has set no goals recordwise.

"I don't set specific goals," he said, "because if you don't reach them you're gonna be disappointed. I just want to play the games one at a time and, hopefully, by conference time we'll know what we're doing.

"The main thing is to play well and keep getting better. The kids are playing hard and playing together. That's the key."

A guy wondered if he was enjoying himself. "I always enjoy myself, wherever I am," he said. "I love the game, I love the sport. But I'll never let it consume me. I'm here to enjoy myself."